The Witcher 3 slaughters the competition at New York Video Game Awards

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On Tuesday February 9, the New York Video Game Critics Circle held their fifth annual New York Games Awards. The ceremony happened at the Villain venue in Brooklyn in front of a live audience, and was streamed on Twitch. Awards were presented by members of the Circle, as well as prominent game journalists, and celebrities like Wyclef Jean.

Awards were given in over a dozen categories, all with clever New York-themed names like “Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game.” The ceremony not only honored the games themselves, but also eSports teams and journalists, with a special Legend Award presented to Rockstar Games for their overall accomplishments as a publisher. The ceremony had a mostly lighthearted tone, when Metal Gear Solid V won for Best Music, the award was accepted by a man who sneaked through the venue in a cardboard box.

Best Acting In A Game was presented to Viva Siefert for her performance in the indie game Her Story. She was up against movie stars like Kiefer Sutherland, and AAA games including Rise of the Tomb Raider. The award was well-deserved, though, because Her Story is composed almost entirely of live video footage of Siefert. Her performance as Hannah Smith carries the game without the use of motion capture or special effects.

A notable upset occurred when Undertale lost the Best Indie Game award to Rocket League. Undertale has developed a twee cult due to its emotional themes, but it was beaten by a game where rocket-powered cars play space soccer.

The Witcher 3 by CD Projekt Red was the clear standout of the evening. This franchise was once a PC exclusive based on an obscure Polish fantasy novel, but The Witcher has slowly gained widespread appeal as the sequels spread to consoles. It received three awards, Best World, Best Writing, and Best Game of 2015.

The ceremony is available to view on Twitch. The full list of winners includes: